Procurement Management in the Public Sector
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Procurement Management in the Public Sector
22 September–3 October 2025
The course is available in English
Introduction to the course
Current crisis situations, as the economic, climate and energy crisis and the effects of the Pandemic have extensively impacted the way we live and we do business. This has created threats and risks also in the way the public sector procure. Public procurement refers to the process of acquisition by government and public entities of goods, works and services, necessary to fulfil their mandate in the provision of services and facilities to the general public. Public purchasing activities have, for long, been overshadowed with inefficiency, corruption and disregard of fundamental "value for money" considerations, adversely impacting the rate and quality of progress in realising the objectives of national development. Furthermore, new emerging challenges and unforeseen situations requires to strengthen our capacity to rapidly adapt in dynamic contexts with different strategies, demanding a new look at public procurement management. Can public procurement be an effective driver to foster agile solutions when purchasing? How to cope with nowadays challenges as increased prices, frequent supply chains disruption, lack of transparency and flexibility facing unforeseen conditions? How can public procurement processes may evolve and transform in constantly changing scenarios? Can public procurement be effective and efficient and at the same time serve the purpose to achieve policy objectives as social inclusion, environmental protection and economic development? Join the Public Procurement Management course to discover more on the answers to these questions. Throughout the course, you will acquire technical, procedural and business competencies needed for successful implementation of each step of the procurement process. You will explore fundamentals and instruments to effectively managing public procurement processes. Standards of international practices will be unpacked together with insight on different regulatory framework approaches by international organizations and International Financial Institutions. Among others, we will explore the World Bank approach on Project Procurement Strategy for Development and the OECD Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems (MAPS).
Who attends this course?
The participants of this course are: - public procurement practitioners at the central (ministry) and sub-central (local government) levels; - officials of ministries of finance in charge of monitoring/ controlling public procurement transactions; - members of national public procurement offices, tender boards and tender/proposal evaluation committees - procurement trainers from national educational institutes or government services; - procurement and financial auditors as well as "probity advisors" and staff from civil society organisations
Objectives
The overall objective of this course was to provide the participants with the practical skills necessary to enhance economy, efficiency and transparency in the management of public procurement operations.
On completion of this course the participants are be able to conduct the procurement process for goods, works and services in accordance with internationally accepted standards through:
- Better understanding of the role of competition, non-discrimination and transparency in achieving “value for money” and “fitness for purpose” in public procurement operations;
- Effective planning, risk assessment, execution and monitoring of public procurement operations;
- Appropriate selection of prescribed procurement methods;
- Enhanced knowledge of different regulatory framework approaches developed by international organizations and International Financial Institutions;
- Preparation of well-balanced procurement documents based on standard models of proven validity and the ability to customise these to suit their national context and regulatory frameworks;
- Increased awareness of the importance of “bid challenge” procedures and related remedies for the proper functioning of a public procurement system;
- Upgraded ability to conduct bid evaluation, contract award and contract administration procedures;
- Proficient use of international commercial trade terms - INCOTERMS;
- Better understanding of advance contract management issues related to FIDIC model of contracts.
- Development of an action plan for improvement of national procedures for execution of public procurement in conformity with the existing national legislation;
- Enhanced capacity to put in place systems for upholding integrity in public procurement operations.
Content
The course provided an overview on public procurement fundamentals and instruments and procedures related to design and delivering procurement contracts for goods works and services.
The training content entailed the following different modules:
MODULE 1: PROCUREMENT STRATEGIC PLANNING
- Procurement Process and risk –based approach
- Strategic and operational Planning
- Associated tools for the preparation of technical specifications and market research
MODULE 2:BIDDING DOCUMENTS FOR GOODS
- Setting pre-qualification criteria
- Preparation of bidding documents
- LCC/TCO approach
- Bid opening and bid evaluation, post qualification, award and publication
- Contract Management
MODULE 3: NON-CONSULTING SERVICES
- Types and nature of services, requirements
- Methods and types of contracts
- ToR, qualification and evaluation criteria
- Key performance indicators
- Contract management
MODULE 4: SELECTING A CONSULTING COMPANY TO ACT AS THE FIDIC ENGINEER
- Selecting the Consultant QCBS or LCS
- Terms of Reference and estimated cost
- Shortlist and Request for proposals
- Evaluation of proposals and negotiations
MODULE 5: CONTRACT MANAGEMENT - FIDIC RED AND YELLOW BOOKS
- Key particularities of FIDIC contracts
- The Engineer responsibilities and limitations
- Main Contract Management tools for success
- FIDIC Golden Principles
- Handling Claims
- Understanding Variations
- Dispute Settlement steps
